We've only been to Europe twice and have had good luck
with the Rick Steves' guides. We find what we're
looking for and the hotels have been as described. I
also like to pick up the latest edition of the Lonely
Planet guide to where we are going and very carefully
rip out the appropriate chapters to take with us. We
have the LP guide to Walking in Britain. We had the
LP Condensed Guides for London and Paris, but didn't
like them as well as their regular guides.

I like guides that include bookstores in the area
(Rick's are sadly lacking in that category) and day
hikes we might want to check out. Researching before
our trip includes area hiking guides and, for England,
I have a couple 'independent' guides, London for the
Independent Traveler, Ruth Humleker, and Britain on
Your Own, Dorothy Maroncelli (has the best 'packing'
chapter I've ever read). The Cadogen Guide to
London/Paris worked very well for us, but I didn't
like the Scotland guide as well. I've been enjoying
going through Margo Classe's Hello Britain and
Ireland!

The Eyewitness Guides are wonderful, but heavy. I
have some older editions from Half Price Books for
research as I wouldn't want to lug them along.

Frommers and Fodors are just OK for us, but others
have great success with them.

I second the recommendation to check your
local library. Like anything else, the best travel
guides for you are those that include your areas of
interest. It takes time to review so many choices and
narrow them down to the ones that work best for you.
I like to test drive at the library first to determine
which ones are worth spending those hard earned
dollars on for a permanent home in our library. The
time and effort are more than worthwhile to add to the
enjoyment of your trip. I think it is RSs that says
something like a $30 investment for a $3000 trip is
money well spent.

As for travel books, they're in a separate section in
our bookstores, too. It may be the travel literature
section. I always take a peek as I enjoy reading
books about walking adventures. I also like Susan
Allen Toth's books on England. Without Reservations,
Alice Steinbach, was very nice. There's always a
fistful on Tuscany.